HC Deb 22 May 1969 vol 784 cc643-4
10. Mr. Hamlin

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what response she has had to her invitation to certain companies employing more than 5,000 employees in individual establishments to register their procedure agreements with her department.

Mrs. Castle

These companies were invited, on 30th April to let my Depart- ment have copies of their procedure agreements by the end of June. It is therefore too early to assess the response but I am glad to tell the House that we are receiving the full co-operation of the C.B.I. and the T.U.C.

Mr. Hamling

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that the positive proposals contained in the White Paper "In Place of Strife" would fit in very well with the sort of response that she is having, but would have a more significant effect on the whole of industry?

Mrs. Castle

I consider this examination of the procedure agreements, with which we are to press ahead as quickly as we can, to be an absolutely vital part of improving industrial relations. In the questionnaire which we have sent to employers we have tried to get from them information not merely about their procedure agreements, but about a wide range of procedural arrangements which affect consultation on the shop floor and the improvement of relations on the shop floor.